31 Dec 2013

It took us a while to get out of the Highland Hotel car park, as Vinod had found one of the key Nilgiri endemics, Nilgiri Pipit, by the car as he was waiting for us to finish breakfast.

Nilgiri Pipit: This endemic
Pipit is the size of a Blyth's Pipit. While superficially looking like a
streaky Tree Pipit, the streakier appearance, buffy eyebrow, dark lores
& lack of a malar stripe confirm it is a Nilgiri Pipit

Plain Prinia: A couple of birds were also feeding in the gardens

The early morning plan to try & beat the hordes to the top of Doddabetta Peak, almost failed at the first point as the entrance road was closed. So we walked the road before the traffic appeared, but only saw a few species in the conifers & bushes alongside the road. By the time we had arrived at the car park, the first of the local grockles were also appearing. While there were less Indian tourists than the previous afternoon initially, the place quickly got noisy as it warmed up. The highlights of the walk to the car park included more views of Grey Junglefowl & Gaur, as well as the Malabar race of Greater Flameback Woodpecker & several Tickell's Warblers (in addition to the species seen on the walk up on the previous afternoon).At the top, I tried a small trail I found, but that proved to be very quiet & disappointing. Got back to the top to find Brian & Vinod had seen a Black & Orange Flycatcher (until it disappeared after being shouted at by 2 Indians) & another Nilgiri Pipit. Fortunately, the Nilgiri Pipit was still around & while I was photographing it, Vinod spotted a Nilgiri Woodpigeon nearby. To add to our growing Nilgiri day list we had several Nilgiri Laughingthrushes, as well as the first Nilgiri Shortwing.

Early morning views from Doddabetta Peak

Grey Junglefowl

Nilgiri Woodpigeon

Greater Flameback Woodpecker: This is a male of the Malabar race (which Clements doesn't split, but Rasmussen does as the endemic Malabar Flameback)

Nilgiri Pipit: This bird was at Doddabetta Peak

Indian Blackbird: Male

Nilgiri Shortwing: This endemic is also known as Nilgiri Blue Robin

Nilgiri Laughingthrush: Several individuals of this cracking endemic were seen

Tickell's Warbler: This locally common Phyllos is easily distinguished by the strong yellow wash to the supercilium & underparts and lack of any wingbars

Gaur

Rather than try Doddabetta Peak again, we decided to try the botanical gardens in the centre of Ooty. Ordinarily, this would probably have been a reasonable idea, but on New Years Eve it was heaving with people, making birding more difficult. However, we did see a couple of new Raptors for the trip & we probably wouldn't have seen much that was new at Doddabetta Peak.

Indian Pond Heron: Looks like this bird had a leg injury, which probably explained its approachability

Bonelli's Eagle: Adult (See comments)

Bonelli's Eagle

Buzzard: A Raptor shape that will be more familiar to Dorset Birders. This is a Steppe Buzzard race which is a winter visitor to the Western Ghats

White-breasted Waterhen

Large Pied Wagtail

Outside the botanical gardens were some well stocked fruit & veg stalls

Unfortunately, there were no signs to indicate the history or significance of these cannons in the botanical gardens

A second cannon

A set of funky bins helped to keep the place cleaner than normal in India

30 Dec 2013

After lunch in the Highland hotel, near Ooty, we headed off for our first visit to the nearby Doddabetta Peak. This is the highest peak in Southern India & is a popular tourist destination. Unfortunately, that lead to a lot of loud, noisy Indian tourists & made it more difficult to see the local birds.

Doddabetta Peak: It says it's the highest peak, so it must be true

Views from Doddabetta Peak: The views are pretty spectacular

Food sellers: There were a number of food vendors at the entrance track to the peak

We walked park of the entrance road & saw a few Nilgiri Laughingthrushes & Greenish Warblers. There is a narrow path from the car park, with some bushes & small trees, which leads to the main tourist viewpoint. There were a few more Nilgiri Laughingthrushes & Indian Blackbirds visible from this path. A few more species were seen from the viewpoint.

Nilgiri Laughingthrush: Good views could be obtained despite this endemic Laughingthrush being fairly skulky

Oriental White-eye

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Indian Blackbird: Another recent Subcontinent split from Blackbird

Greenish Warbler: This worn individual didn't have any obvious wingbar

Pied Bushchat: Female

Grey-headed Flycatcher

Cinereous Tit: Another recent Subcontinent split from Great Tit

As we drove back to the hotel at dusk, we ran into the first Grey Junglefowls & a party of Gaur feeding in a field next to the road.

Back to look for the Jungle Bush-quail we saw late on the previous afternoon. While we saw them again, unfortunately I still failed to get any photos. Before we reached the Jungle Bush-quail site, we visited a small woodland where there were several Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpeckers & Indian Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches, both of which we had been keen to see.

Indian Grey Francolin

Spotted Dove

Spotted Owlet: The adult keeping an eye on the fully grown chick

Spotted Owlet: Like all youngsters, the fully grown chick wants more independence

Hoopoe: At least this January's Hoopoe was in a nice place, rather than a grotty housing estate in Poole as last January's Hoopoe was

Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker: I was really pleased to see this diddy Woodpecker as I had managed to miss it on the first Indian trip

Tree Pipit

Large Cuckoo-shrike: The barring indicates this is a female, a male would have unbarred underparts

Red-breasted Flycatcher: The pale based bill & extend of the orange on the breast helps separate this from the similar Taiga Flycatcher

Indian Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch: Another recent Indian Split from the Himalayan & South East Asian Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch

Yellow-throated Sparrow: Also known as Chestnut-shouldered Petronia, but I prefer the original name I learnt for this species

Yellow-throated Sparrow: Not all individuals show the yellow throat

Local hut: This local farmer's hut was very basic

Mammals were represented by fleeting views of this Black-naped Hare & some domesticated Water Buffalo.

Black-naped Hare

Water Buffalo

We left Jungle Hut late morning, for the hour long drive back up the ridge to Ooty. It is a long winding road & stopping is not allowed. However, there is a viewpoint car park about a third of the way up the hill, allowing a stop.

Little Green Bee-eater

Bonnet Macaque: The local Macaques were just hanging around the car park as they know there is easy food this way

Lizard sp: Several individuals of this cryptic Lizard were seen on the rocks around the viewpoint

The road to Ooty: There are many hairpin bends along this road. Note, our car in the mirror

The Road to Ooty: A close up of the car

The upper slopes of the Ooty road: The lower slopes are dry arid bushes & trees similar to Jungle Hut, but the upper slopes are mainly Eucalyptus & Conifers

About Me

I've been a keen British birder since the age of 13. These days I
generally bird locally around Poole Harbour, the Purbeck coastline &
Dorset sites. However, the twitching urge from the late 70s hasn't left
& I will quickly go for ticks in the UK & Ireland. The recent Elegant Tern, Siberian Accentor, Brunnich's Guillemot & Irish Royal Tern & acceptance of the Purple Swamphen (2016) & Papa Westray Chestnut Bunting (2015) have brought the UK/Irish list up to 531 (BOU/IRBC or 533 new IOC list). 5 species have only been seen in Ireland. Note, the Pasty-pouched (Dalmatian) Pelican is still pended.The aim of this blog is to showcase both the excellent birds & other wildlife in the UK as well as abroad. Go out & have a look yourself. There is some great wildlife out there in the UK.I have travelled extensively abroad in all continents, except Antarctica. I saw my last Clements family, Sharpbill, in SE Brazil (Sept 04) joining a very exclusive group of birders to have seen at least one of each of the bird families of the world (taxonomic changes mean I need to see at least one of the 6 new families that have recently been recognised). My World List is 6322 (Clements 2016 taxonomy). My Western Pale List is 700 (AERC taxonomy & BWP boundaries).The photos are protected from copying (as some bloggers have no scruples about stealing other peoples photos to make their dreary blogs look better). However, I will happily forward copies of the photos if you also saw the bird. Just ask using the comments option.